Political temperature brews in Bintulu: Jepak by-election nomination underway

SIBU – The political temperature in Bintulu town is rising ahead of the Jepak by-election slated for November 4, as the nomination centre opens for an hour starting at 9am today.

Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) candidate Iskandar Turkee, 54, is expected to go toe-to-toe with businessman Chieng Lea Ping, 65, of Aspirasi, and former police officer Stevenson Joseph Sumbang, 42, of Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) in a three-corner fight, barring any last-minute independent candidates.

Despite GPS chief whip Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof’s call for the seat to be unopposed, there has yet to be any sign of other candidates withdrawing from the race.

However, PBK president Voon Lee Shan said letting GPS win the Jepak by-election unopposed could “kill democracy”.

That said, it would be a tall order for either of the opposing candidates to wrest the seat from Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), as votes will be split among the opposition candidates, favouring the GPS candidate.

Political analyst Prof Datuk Jayum Jawan said Jepak has always been a PBB stronghold.

He added that GPS under Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg’s leadership has brought Sarawak to another new level of achievement and prosperity, with a strong focus on maintaining the state’s political stability.

So, any candidate chosen by Abang Johari would be accepted by his party members and the people on the ground.

It is interesting to note how both Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) skipped the Jepak by-election.

GPS is part of the federal unity government, while PN sits on the opposition bench.

In a recent statement, PN secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin was quoted as saying that the coalition’s supreme council had decided not to contest in Jepak but to focus on defending the Kemaman parliamentary by-election in Terengganu during the December 2 polling day.

Prof James Chin from the Asian Studies department at the University of Tasmania, Australia, reckoned this was because both PH and PN already knew that Jepak was PBB’s stronghold.

With no clear opposition strength in sight, Iskandar is expected to retain the Jepak seat for PBB, and it is now a matter of his winning majority.

The Jepak seat fell vacant following the demise of the incumbent Datuk Talib Zulpilip on September 15. Talib had represented Jepak for six terms since the seat was introduced in the 1996 state election.

In the 2021 state election, Talib won Jepak for GPS with 6,277 votes for a 4,243-vote majority over Parti Sarawak Bersatu candidate Raba’ah Tudin (2,034 votes), Parti Bumi Kenyalang candidate Stevenson Joseph Sumbang (587), and independent Tuah Kazan (141).

Early voting and polling for the Jepak by-election are on October 31 and November 4, respectively.

The electoral roll that will be used for the Jepak by-election is the one updated until September 15, 2023, which contains 22,804 voters, consisting of 22,761 ordinary voters and 43 police personnel.

The majority of the voters in the constituency are from the Malay/Melanau ethnic group. – October 21, 2023